Things Are Up In The Air For A Number Of The Family In Parenthood’s “Jump Ball”

What I love most about Parenthood, and I think a lot of other fans can agree with, is that you don’t always have to agree with the family members in the Braverman clan 100 percent of the time to love the show. It’s a lot like your own family. You don’t always see eye to eye, but at the end of the day, you know that they have your back and love you just the same.

Thursday’s episode might have brought up a couple of those things.

Amber is obviously trying to work through her recent breakup with Ryan. She cleans her apartment, and then calls into work (telling Crosby she’s sick) and decides to take a spontaneous road trip. When Sarah calls her to find out what’s wrong, she’s very worried about what she’s going to end up doing. Amber ends up visiting the restaurant/bar that Seth works at, and it’s not exactly clear how she got the address, since Sarah didn’t even have it. She sits at the bar and lets the guy next to her buy a few drinks, until he keeps pestering her and that gets on her nerves. She starts questioning him, that just because she lets him buy her a few drinks now he thinks he can sleep with her? Seth comes out and sees that it’s Amber who’s causing a scene and follows her outside, where she proceeds to scream at him, and yell about her broken off engagement. Seth thinks she’s blaming him for the failed relationship and wants to take it out on him, but really she’s afraid that she’s turning out like him. Seth calls Sarah to let her know that Amber’s there, but tells her it’s not necessary for her to come out. He wants the opportunity to actually be her dad. The next morning, she wakes up and realizes what she said and apologizes. He tells her that she’s not turning into him, she has a lot of her mother in her. They make their peace, and eat pancakes. I wonder if this means we could still be seeing a little more of Seth in the future, because I definitely wouldn’t object. I’m not sure that I “ship” him and Sarah, but I love the depth of his character and the dynamic that he has with the rest of the family.

Amber: (eating her pancakes) These are really good.
Seth: It’s Bisquick. You must still be hungover.(Those lines might not be verbatim, but you get the gist).

Things are not good for Joel and Julia. Julia wakes up and he hasn’t come home, so she has to cover for the kids and say that he had to go into work early as she makes breakfast. Victor starts asking about the run that him and Joel were supposed to do together, but now he probably won’t get to sign up, and Julia assures him that she’ll take care of it. Joel comes in a few minutes later with donuts and acts like nothing’s wrong. And what else can he do really? Julia asks where Joel slept the night before and he feels that he really doesn’t have to disclose that information, but tells her that he got drunk and slept in his office. She asks him what they’re doing, and he simply gives her the rundown of his day.

Julia shows up at Sarah’s place (like most people just randomly do these days) and tells her all about the trouble her and Joel have been having. She tells her about the kiss that happened between her and Ed, and how she had to cut it off so they aren’t friends anymore. Sarah tries to tell her, “all you have is not going to go away because you pulled back a half a second too late,” which makes her feel a lot better.

Joel has to play poker, like usual, with the Braverman guys and he’s not sure that he can just paint on a brave face and not act like something is going on behind closed doors. Crosby starts pestering him when he pulls out of the game and ends up just leaving. Who can blame him?

When he gets home, he goes into the kids’ rooms, then walks in to see Julia. He doesn’t waste any time and says, “I’m moving out, Julia… I’ll start looking for a place tomorrow.” He looks so tired and defeated, and that was the cue that brought on a lot of tears everywhere. I really do hope they can work it out at some point. But, this is definitely showing the realistic sides of marriages and the troubles that they sometimes face.

Hank and Adam also bonded a little more this week, which was kind of nice to see. Hank brought a picture of Bob Dylan that he had taken and asked if The Luncheonette would want to hang it up, which was also an ice breaker so he could get the name of Max’s doctor, without going into too much detail. Adam has the hunch that it’s because he has Asperger’s and tells Kristina that it’s good foreshadowing of the kind of life that Max can have in the future. Hank has a business, has a daughter and has had a relationship. Some things might not have worked out, but he still has a good life and can handle it.

Hank talks to the doctor to see whether he has Asperger’s or not, and informs him that he has always had these traits as far back as he can remember. The doctor asks him if that has ever played a big role in his life, and he mentions the downsize of his business and some of his relationships, like with his daughter and ex-wife have suffered. The doctor comes to the conclusion that he’s a “jump ball,” meaning that he might have it and he might not.

Adam, knowing what that challenge is like, he wants to help Hank a little more, and invites him to poker night with the guys, which Crosby wasn’t crazy about. He said that he doesn’t make eye contact and mumbles. But, Adam comes to his defense and says that he’s just a little different, and they should all just give him a chance.

Camille’s back from Europe! But, it might not be for long. It looks like she even got a makeover in the time being. Zeek had a surprise party waiting for her when she got home, but when he asked her if she was glad to be back, she didn’t seem quite so convincing. Zeek has obviously been missing her since she’s been away and has started realizing that he might have to step it up a little, but when he asks what their plans for the day are, Camille has already made plans with another friend from the trip. She gets home later and realizes they don’t have food, but Zeek had planned to take her out for a nice dinner. As they’re catching up, Camille announces that her art class is supposed to be going to France, and this time she doesn’t even bother to ask. Looks like Zeek is going to have to make a pretty grand gesture to get Camille to stay. Or maybe he’ll go with her this time around!

As for Drew and his bit of a complicated love triangle, it looks like his eyes are starting to open to what he really wants, rather than just having the “typical” college experience. It has been two weeks and Amy’s still staying in Drew’s dorm. All of a sudden, Drew’s other “friend,” Natalie, has been very territorial about wanting to spend time with him, which I’m not okay with. He even leaves class early to avoid her, but she runs after him. She says that they should watch the meteor shower together, since they’re in the same astronomy class. She also reminds him that they’re in college, hinting at the same thing she has been for weeks. When he starts to leave for the trip, Amy starts to tell him why she hasn’t wanted to go back and doesn’t want to. She felt “scary alone” and the only one who got her out of that was him. No pressure, right? He makes his way to the bus, but goes right back to Amy and they hug it all out. I really hope Amy sticks around a lot longer. But, she should probably start by telling her parents where she is.

This season is really just getting started. From the previews next week, Hank and Sarah are working together, but it might not end the way either of them was hoping. As for Joel and Julia, they tell the kids about the new arrangements and we see Joel saying, “I’m so sorry,” while Julia tells him, “It’s not too late to change your mind. Don’t move out.”